Indoor Environmental Quality, (IEQ) Work Performance, and Health A peer reviewed paper on quantitative relations between indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and work performance or health from the Helsinki University of Technology and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory presents relationships between ventilation rates, temperature, and perceived air quality to short term sick leave, work performance, and

5 Ways Property Managers Limit Risk From Environmental Claims A Property Manager is often stuck between a knife (tenants), a gun (owners), a judge and jury, and a hard place. Environmental claims are common pitfalls that cause even the best Property Managers to stumble into a dark alley, or wind up on the wrong side of the bench in

How effective is your Bathroom Exhaust Fan? For obvious reasons, bathrooms can be major sources of moisture in homes. And where there is moisture, there is the possibility of growing mold in the bathroom. A bathroom exhaust fan can be essential in removing excess moisture and keeping bathrooms ventilated, but how do we know if our

Spring – The Perfect Season for an Environmental Building Inspection Since I have relocated back to the Bay Area, I have to say that I miss the full Four Seasons of Oregon. Maybe I don’t really miss the hard deep freeze of winters, nor the asphalt-bubbling heat waves of late July, but I do miss

Natural Ventilation of Buildings and Spaces Many times when clients desire a “green” space or building that connects its occupants to the outdoors, they envision incorporating lots of daylighting and natural ventilation in the architectural design. Certainly, there can be many benefits to be had including lower energy bills, a connection to the outdoors, improved

Materials Air Quality Testing Since news broke that Lumber Liquidators may have distributed composite wood flooring in California that did not meet California Air Resource Board (CARB) formaldehyde emission standards, we’ve been getting lots of questions about materials air quality testing. Questions are coming from all angles. Some folks are interested in joining the class action

Lumber Liquidators Formaldehyde Testing A recent investigative journalist story exposed Lumber Liquidators formaldehyde testing and revealed a rather unfortunate tale that may affect hundreds of thousands of homes across the US. During active Federal investigations for suspicion of using illegally harvested lumber from Russia, it turns out one of the largest flooring distributors in the US

It’s Raining, It’s Pouring, Is Mold growing while I’m Snoring? Finally! Drought stricken California is getting some significant rain, for the first time in over a year. This was written on December 7, 2014 (Pearl Harbor Day) and as of today Oakland, California has received 3.22 inches of rain so far THIS MONTH,

Classes of Toxic Substances There are many different ways to organize contaminants. We often rely on their physical form (e.g., liquid, vapor, solid, energetic, etc.), size (e.g., nano-particle, respirable, micro, etc.), or larger classifications (e.g., biological, mineral, etc.) The Green Science Policy Institute coordinated a number of organizations (see below) to prioritize toxic chemicals and dumb it down to six

What is Asbestos? How Dangerous Is It and What Is It Doing In My House ? These are all questions we’ve asked ourselves at one point or another. We’ve all wondered WHY would something potentially as carcinogenic would have been used with near-abandon for so long? Why would this potential carcinogen be lurking our homes,